Lake Urmia is the largest lake in the Middle East and the second largest saltwater lake on earth covering an area that varies from 2,000 to 2,300 square miles. This lake is located between East and West Azerbaijan Provinces in northwest Iran.
The lake is remarkable for its extreme salinity level which is more than 300 grams/liter. The Sodium and Chloride concentrations of the lake’s water are four times the concentration of natural saltwater. The main salts are sodium, chloride and sulphate.
Quick Facts: –
- The Lake Urmia and its wetlands have been declared as a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 1976.
- The lake and the area around Urmia were declared as a Ramsar Site in 1971.
- There are more than 100 islands in the lake. Bard and Shahi are largest of all.
- The basin of this lake is surrounded by mountains in the west and north, by plateaus in the south, and by plateaus and volcanic cones in the east.
- It is only a few tens of meters deep even at high water. The maximum depth of the lake is 53 feet.
- The lake’s surface area naturally varies to some extent between wet and dry seasons.
- This lake was once one of the largest hypersaline lakes in the entire world.
- Lake Urmia is located 4,183 feet above sea level.
- The earliest mention of this lake dates back to the 9th century BC, in Assyrian records.
- The lake does not have any outflows and evaporation is the only way through which it loses some water.
